The book, 'Canadian Railway Telegraph History,' has had a successful first year of publication. It is the first book in Canada to cover the historical development and use of the telegraph with the railway. Copies of the CRTH have gone to 20 US States, nine Canadian provinces, England, Scotland, and Uruguay. As a result, a publisher in England was quite thrilled with the book and is now currently preparing it for independent publication in England. It will be offered for sale in the U.K., and Europe sometime later this year through the RPM Historical Society, Kent, England.
The book details the history of Canada's telegraph with the first public demonstration on 24 May 1846 at Toronto's City Hall and Canada's first commercial telegraph company, until 1956 with the Canadian National Railways Telegraph Company. Also covered is the CPR Telegraph Company, early telegraph laws, Morse equipment, the people behind the telegraph, forms, and social aspects. The CRTH also points out the historical marriage of the telegraph beginning with the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada in 1856 between Toronto and Montreal. Interestingly, the United States developed their railroads first and the telegraph lines followed the right-of-ways after 1844; in Canada, the telegraph came first (24 May 1846) and the railways followed the telegraph circuits (1856), in fact, the telegraph united Canada at least ten years before the Canadian Pacific Railway!
Further details about the book and also telegraph history are at the Canadian Railway
Telegraph Website: http://web.idirect.com/~rburnet/
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Written Sunday, May 11, 1997